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How I Save Money When I Travel

One of the biggest barriers to traveling as much as we would like, other than time, is cost. Obviously right? Yes, the reality is that travel is never going to be that cheap (relative to being at home), but what you want to do when travelling is avoid a) paying over the odds for something and b) completely wasting money on something you shouldn’t. Both of which happen surprisingly often when you’re traveling! Aside from work travel, on all my other trips I plan and foot the bill for everything myself, and regardless of how many places I visit, the importance of travelling on a budget never diminishes. The more wisely you spend your money when you travel, the more places you can actually go. Australia Post have recently launched a new Travel Essentials section, a one stop shop for all things travel, and asked me to give them the low down on how I plan my trips, to save dollars while still living it up.

Obviously! But in case you’re not across it, this is a major factor when it comes to saving money on your trip, and relies on a little research before you choose where to go. It’s important to understand different currencies and what they mean for you – and how that pairs with the cost of living in that destination. If you’re keen to save some coin, places like South East Asia and South America are great for exchange rate and have a realistively low cost of living so you’ll be able to live it up without spending every cent you have. If you do plan

Book flights early

I’ve mentioned this before but in my opinion, booking early is the best way to save money on flights. I always try to book as early as possible, using a compare website like Skyscanner. Where possible I also try to avoid traveling at peak holiday times, and I usually find the best fares on Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday. I know it’s hard if you have tight holidays and travelling at random times doesn’t work, but it’s something to keep in mind if you ever have flexibility. In the last few years I’ve also twigged at being a loyal member of an airline so that they give me better deals annnnnddd preferential treatment when it comes to booking. I love a good airline newsletter too! Not for the spam but for the good secret deals you find in them.

Think laterally about accommodation

Traditionally I’ve been all about the smaller boutique hotels when I’m traveling, and also love to use Airbnb which gives you great deals and an ability to live like a local. However, I’ve recently also signed up to many large hotel chain newsletters and often find that they have flash sales that are only for their loyal customers. Another thing I do is always (again) try to book early for hotels. If I know in advance where I’ll be going, even if the trip isn’t 100% confirmed, I’ll try book accommodation, and perhaps pay a little more to be able to cancel. For example, in December we booked this hotel in Greece, even though the trip wasn’t locked in, mainly because the price of the hotel was so cheap 6 months in advance. Fast forward a few months and the room we got is also a lot more expensive. As long as you pay a little extra for being able to cancel without a fee, you can afford to plan way in advance!

Be smart about mobile

Arghhhhh roaming. The bain of my travel existence. Cos a girls gotta be connected, but she also needs to keep those fees down. Never, ever, ever roam on your normal mobile without some sort of roaming or data set up. In an emergency it’s totally allowed (safety is more important than a few hundred dollars) but the rest of the time it pays, literally, to be prepared. So what do you do? You could get a Sim in your destination, but in my experience there’s often a few days before you get this sorted in which time you’ve been annoyingly trying to find wifi wherever you go or may have spent 92470409 trillion dollars. Be smart and get a solution before you go, an Australia Post Prepaid Travel SIM is a great option.

Cash cash money

The boring side of traveling is the fees that happen when your back is turned (or when you’ve just had a whole bottle of wine), but this is an outflow you can stem easily if you get organised. These days you can get pre loaded travel cards that have lower fees and don’t experience fluctuating exchange rates. These travel cards from Australia Post are great options. Also keep in mind that every time you get money out you’ll be getting fees, so try to get cash before you go (foreign cash can be ordered and collected through Australia Post). Oh and always pay in the local currency.

A few other of my tips?

– Do your research on public transport travel cards or daily and weekly passes before you go, they’re a great way to save money.

– Eat where the locals eat. This saves on money and gives your wayyyy better experience. As a rule? Don’t eat anywhere you can see a well touristed piazza or square. Going around the corner will always be better (for the wallet and the palette).

– And finally, some countries allow you to claim back the taxes on your purchases at the airport, meaning that bag is practically free (maybe…)

Let us know your thoughts!

These are such great tips! Booking early has come in handy so many times, especially when looking for places to stay. Also if you can stay with people you know that can always save some money as well and you get to see an old friend =o)

One of my favorite tip is to stay at places where I have friends or family. It is usually way cheaper (free) then staying at a hotel. Thank you for sharing your tips, i’ll be sure to use them whenever I travel this summer 🙂
Love,
Thays

I never use my mobile when abroad. First, it saves me money, true, but then I also get to be disconnected for a while and that makes an experience drastically different. Especially when I get lost (as I always do) and I need to find my way around without the power of GPS 🙂

Carol Taylor

on my last trip l did not use my phone, instead l took a tablet, purchased a dongle, and used Facebook to communicate with all my friends and family..and considering a lot of places have free wifi you can save considerably…they beauty of a tablet is tha tit also doubles as a camera, an e-reader and a file storage system…

These tips are worth a mint, especially the one about the cash. Sometimes it’s also helpful to look for accommodation in the nearby city, I experienced this when I wanted to travel to Croatia and found out that Split is much cheaper than Dubrovnik!https://www.makeandmess.com/

This is such a helpful post! My friends and I have been aching to plan a trip to Southeast Asia specifically for money savings! Thanks for the super helpful tips Geneva! Now if only my work would let me have some extra vacation days!
xx Anniehttp://www.somethingswellblog.com/

Thanks for sharing this post! I love travelling, but rarely have enough money to travel as often as I’d like to.

I also love receiving emails from airlines about good deals. I’ll be going to Amsterdam in a couple of weeks, and the tickets were super cheap. I’ll be living at a friend’s house, which means that so far I have no idea what I’m gonna spend my money on. Coffee and croissants?

Floor

I’m Dutch and if you don’t mind me giving you a tip, I would highly recommend you try ‘stroopwafels’ while you’re in Amsterdam if you haven’t already! A stroopwafel is basically two very thin waffles with syrup/caramel in between. A lot of Dutch people eat them while drinking a cup of tea, and put the cookie on top of the cup so the steam melts the syrup. Enjoy your stay!

Some great tips! Especially booking early is really important in my opinion, as is choosing the right accommodation. We’ve used Skkyscanner and Paperflights to often book good deals on flights. We don’t mind an hour layover if that means we save 200 euros on our flights.

Thank you so much for sharing your great tips about budget traveling! I love to travel too, especially to exotic, far away places where I can learn about a new culture and have an adventure. Learning to travel on a budget and ‘live the like locals’ and meant I have been able to take some incredible trips and seen some beautiful places!
Allegra xxhttp://www.allegraghiloni.wordpress.com

Quineth Fronteras

i love your post! Thank you for sharing your great tips, finally got useful tips i can use in my travels soon 🙂

My favourite (and maybe misguided) money saving tip for when I travel is to mark it as a business expense on the blog and get a tax write-off, although try telling HMRC that you deserve a tax rebate on a new swimsuit. I’m on board with city cards (the sort that give you free public transport and entry to museums etc), mobile plans (God bless Vodafone EU – I can use as much data as I want without the horrific roaming charges), and booking way in advance (planning ahead is so much fun and gives you something to look forward to!). x

Thank you so much for these wonderful tips <3 I find that traveling with a budget is really doable and possible, as long as you plan it right 🙂 Glad to know that you feel the same! Can't wait to implement these little tips/tricks for my next trip!

Great tips dear, I´m doing these everytime I travel somewhere. 🙂
If it´s possible I try to buy tickets (public transport, entries) online, it is a bit cheaper and a big time saver (no need to wait in line).

Amazing tips! I pretty much try to do the same before travelling. I also try to go to places where I know people. It definitely makes the trip cheaper, but it is also a better experience when you are with locals who know the culture/nice places/language.
As someone once said: “If travelling was free, you’d never see me again.”

I never use my phone when I travel, I take the SIM card out on the plane. I download city guides and maps on my phone, that work without connecting to the internet and if I do need to connect, I go to Starbucks (there’s always a Starbucks somewhere) or a cafe to use their wi-fi. Makes choosing a place to eat a lot more interesting.

Carol Taylor

hi..just came across your page and found it quite interesting…l have traveled overseas now three times going to the UK each time and then other countries afterwards…l am yet to learn how to travel light though, chuckles..last trip was a nightmare for luggage..as l normally go for around 4-6 weeks with varying climates it means more to pack but l need to learn how to cut that down..anyway, you are right about booking as far out as possible to save money..a travel agent tipped me that around 8 months is the max for placing your bookings…also keep an eye out for when they have travel expo’s, you can generally get some savings during those..also, if you dont mind doing stop-overs then you can find your airfares might get cheaper..l have found that when booking my flights..oh, and this might seem a little naughty, but when checking in at the airport, tell them you require assistance and you can get taken to your gate much quicker and perhaps even board sooner..l injured an ankle just before my last trip and a friend suggested this to me..made it so much easier and quicker to get to my gates..also, to save on accommodations costs, perhaps look at booking into student accommodation..the uni’s let out these rooms when it is not semester times, like over summer, and you can save considerably…l did this on my second trip and l paid round $30 p.n back in 09..specially if you are planning on basing yourself in one city for a few days to a week, this is a great saving..

Carol Taylor

another helpful tip..if you are driving around the UK in a hire car and want to visit the bigger cities then do a park and ride combo…you can park in a secured parking lot for free and only pay for your return ticket back to the parking lot and you save heaps that way..l found out about it on my last trip..unfortunately l did not learn about it sooner cause l missed some cities l would have liked to visit for a day…

Roz

I’ve been looking into going interrailing next summer so i’m sure these tips will come in handy! Great post.

Pick clothes that only work with at least three other items and hand wash and dry quickly. Roll clothes in bundles for packing into just a carry on and use a collapsible fabric backpack for your personal bag. Wash items in sink, wring out in towel and hang over tub to dry. The backpack will have extra room for shopping ( you know you will buy something to take home). Try to keep purchases to items you needed at home or things to wear. If backpack gets too full, you will have only one checked bag to pay for on return flight, but pay for it day before ( cheaper than waiting till you arrive at airport ).